Next Generation Find The Books: Book 1
by LetUsReadLetUsRead
Summary: When Scorpius said he wanted to know what went on in the war, he didn't mean like this! He, Al, Rose, James, Fred, Teddy, Lily, and Hugo all get a front row seat in the mind of Harry Potter, and hopefully, finally, their questions answered. Rated T because of paranoia
1. The Discovery and First Chapter

**A/N: Hey guys! This is my first Harry Potter fanfiction and I know it's been done over a hundred times but hardly anyone does it with the next generation and I wanted to give it a try.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the bold text is not my own work and I take no credit for it what-so-ever. **

Over the year many strange things had happened at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. From a flying Ford Anglia to an all out war, Hogwarts has seen many things. And although at first glance, seeing a second year Slytherin boy running through the corridors might not be the most exciting thing in the world, there is something important about this particular young Slytherin and where he's headed to.

This boy was Scorpius Malfoy, and he was now running full pelt towards Gryffindor tower where he knew his best friends, Albus Potter and Rose Weasley, would be. He knew he had to get them, had to show them what he had found.

As he hurtled along the corridors he very almost crashed into the very people he was in such a rush to see. As it was, he skidded and had to be caught by the small black haired boy that was his best friend.

"Any particular reason you're running like there's a dragon snapping at your heels Scorp?" asked Rose, smirking at him lightly, her blue eyes dancing with amusement as they usually did around her friends.

Scorpius looked up at her as he bent over, trying to catch his breath back so that he could answer her. Usually he wouldn't look such a mess, with his cheeks flushed pink and his usually sleek blonde hair ruffled, but then again he had just run all the way from the seventh floor to Gryffindor tower. Albus tilted his head with curiosity as he waited with Rose for their friend to be able to speak.

"Were the older Slytherins giving you trouble again Scorp?" he asked, hoping they hadn't been. Many of Scorpius' housemates had been giving him grief since his first year but they had hoped that after a year it would stop. No such luck.

Scorpius had finally regained his breath and shook his head.

"No, well, not really. This is about something else; something much more important than that" and he withdrew from his bag a book. It was a small book, covered by rich deep red leather, looking almost like a journal. Al looked at it inquisitively while Rose looked like she didn't know if she wanted to press the subject of the other Slytherins or question Scorpius on why he thought a journal was important. It seemed as her curiosity about the book won the battle for the moment, though Scorpius was sure she would get back on his case if he didn't distract her quickly.

"It's a book about your dad Al". At Albus' confused expression he carried on. " I found this book and six others a few minutes ago in this strange room. I had wanted to know why my house keeps saying these things about my dad and my family. You know how it is, my parents don't tell me anything about the war...anything about their years at Hogwarts actually. But all last year and so far this year they've been doing it and it really frustrated me that I didn't know why. Then all of a sudden this door appears and when I go in there are these seven books all titled 'Harry Potter' and the something of something"

Halfway through his explanation Rose had taken the book from him and was now looking it over with a wary glance.

"Not that I don't believe you Scorp, because I do, but why on Earth would these suddenly appear when we've been wanting answers since first year?"

Albus carefully took the book from her and opened it up at the first page. At the top in big, bold letters it read: **Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone**. Underneath this title was a picture of a boy who looked a lot like him, only slightly younger, with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead. It was his dad without a doubt.

"...maybe because we never asked for them..." he whispered, almost to himself.

"What?"

"Sorry, what did you say Al?"

Both Scorpius and Rose had turned at his quiet words and were now staring at him with confusion. He flushed slightly under their gaze but repeated what he had said.

"I said, maybe it was because we had never asked for answers. You've seen how our parents are Rose, they avoid talking about the war as much as possible when we're around... even Teddy doesn't know much more than they teach here in fifth year. We don't ask them because it makes them sad, and I bet no-one thought that if we asked Hogwarts it might reply"

Rose was shaking her head slightly while her blonde friend seemed to be mulling over what Al had said. It wasn't that Rose thought Albus wasn't making sense but she never understood why Al talked about Hogwarts the way he did.

"Al, the castle isn't alive. Anyway, how do we even know this book speaks the truth?"

The boys looked at each other. Trust Rose to poke a logic-shaped hole through what could be their golden opportunity.

Albus bit his lip "why don't we read the first chapter? If we recognise people in it and it matches to what little we do know then who's to say it doesn't tell the truth?"

Scorpius smiled slightly as he watched Rose think it over "I think it's a good idea. Rose?"

She turned to look at her two best friends and almost burst out laughing. As it was she barely managed to hold in her giggles; the two boys were doing their best puppy dog eyes at her, even though they both knew they looked ridiculous doing it. Giggling, she agreed to read the first chapter but only if they stopped making those stupid faces.

They both laughed and high-fived over their victory on this matter. They then followed Rose to an empty classroom, agreeing with her than it would be a bad idea to read it in the Gryffindor common room as it was often very noisy so they wouldn't be able to hear each other. They didn't even consider the Slytherin common room; the Chudley Cannons had a better hope at winning the league than they did of being allowed in that room.

As it was the three of them quickly pulled three chairs around a desk and stared at the book. It had suddenly hit them that this small book would be the gateway to the answer of questions that had plagued them since the first memorial service they had attended. All of a sudden they were almost hesitant to open it.

With a deep breath, Rose reached over and turned to the first page.

"**The Boy Who Lived"**

With one last glance over to her cousin, she began to read.

**Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.**

Albus snorted quietly. At Rose's raised eyebrow he explained "I've met the Dursleys, well these two anyway, only once and they take 'normal' to the extreme. They are the most boring people I've ever met and that includes Uncle Percy and Molly"

**They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.**

They all traded looks with each other. Even Scorpius knew that all things strange and mysterious seemed to gravitate towards the Potters and the Weasleys, no matter what they were.

**Mr Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills.**

Here Scorpius looked up at Rose, about to ask what a 'drill' was but she held up her hand to stop him "write down what you don't understand and I'll tell you at the end of the chapter"

**He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large moustache. Mrs Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbours. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in** **their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.**

The three of them all had raised eyebrows after this 'flattering' description but decided not refrain from commenting on the menagerie that was the Dursley family.

**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.**

"I don't blame them, who'd want to know you lot" said a joking voice from the doorway. All three of them jumped and Rose quickly tried to hide the book while the other two tried to look as innocent as possible as Fred Weasley and James Potter came strolling into the classroom.

"Now what do we have here Fred?"

"Not three students not doing what they're not supposed to-"

"They'd know better-"

"Than to try and fool us-"

"Especially with those faces-"

"Right?"

They were both grinning like a cat that had cornered a mouse. James strolled over and sat down on the desk beside his brother, looking at him expectantly whilst Fred leant against the chair Rose was sitting on. The three second years traded guilty looks before Scorpius started to explain what he had found to James and Fred. After the explanation the two pranksters traded looks.

"Even though it's a _book_" here they shuddered in mock-disgust while Rose huffed at this slight on the precious recorders of knowledge "it seems like one of the only ones worth reading"

They then plopped themselves down on chairs next to each other and looked expectantly at Rose. She glared back at them. Albus sighed, having seen enough arguments between his cousin and his brother to know where this was heading.

"Just read Rosie, they have a right to listen too. Plus you can't stop them once they have their minds made up"

Rose looked like she very much wanted to argue but let it drop in favour of getting back to the book.

**Mrs Potter was Mrs Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister**

They all frowned at this; James and Al because they knew that this was their Grandmother they were talking about, Rose and Fred because they had siblings and while they may annoy them sometimes, they wouldn't trade them for the world. Scorpius was frowning because even though he was an only child, he had always wanted a sibling so he wouldn't feel all alone in his home and he couldn't believe anyone would throw that away.

**because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be.**

James pretended to sniff haughtily "And proud of it"

**The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbours would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that. **

The Potters frowned at the book.

"There's nothing wrong with Uncle Harry" Rose muttered, tightening her grip on the book slightly while trying to calm down at slight on her Uncle.

**When Mr and Mrs Dursley woke up on the dull, grey Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work**

Fred pretended to be worried "Is he quite sure about that? What if it was just a plain maroon tie? Not a plain grey tie. There are too many boring choices!" As he and James continued to 'fret' over ties Rose ploughed on with the reading.

**and Mrs Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair. **

**None of them noticed a large tawny owl flutter past the window.**

Scorpius looked at them confused "Why would that matter?"

"Because Muggles don't use owl post Scorp" Rose explained.

"But then how do they get their letters?"

"They're delivered by postmen."

This didn't clear up most of his confusion but he let it go for now. After all, how could one person deliver all the mail up and down the country?

**At half past eight, Mr Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs Dursley on the cheek and tried to kiss Dudley goodbye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. 'Little tyke,' chortled Mr Dursley as he left the house.**

Rose raised her eyebrow, unimpressed "If they encourage him, he's only going to get worse"

**He got into his car and backed out of Number Four's drive. **

**It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar – a cat reading a map.**

Fred gasped loudly, James fell off his chair, Rose rolled her eyes but continued to read before they could start talking.

**For a second, Mr Dursley didn't realise what he had seen – then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive – no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs.**

Al smirked slightly "they can if they're Animagi..."

James looked over at his little brother with a smirk "one galleon says it's McGonagall"

Albus just stared back "despite what you think James, I'm not stupid. Definitely not stupid enough to take an obvious bet like that one"

**Mr Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove towards town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day. **

**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks.**

Scorpius frowned slightly but didn't pay too much attention to it. He knew Muggles didn't wear cloaks or robes, didn't understand why it was such a big deal, but knew from what was read so far, it wasn't what this particular Muggle would class as 'normal'.

**Mr Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes – the get-ups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion.**

Rose snorted "No it happens to be a very old fashion"

**He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly to each other. Mr Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him!**

Fred nodded his head sagely "of course I quite agree. Wearing emerald green, for shame" he tutted with a meaningful glance towards the only Slytherin in the room.

James was nodding in agreement "True my dear fellow, it truly is atrocious!"

Al's jaw dropped in mock-surprise " Do you mean to tell me you know what that word means? Hallelujah James might be able to learn things after all"

Rose quickly read on to avoid an argument, though not before throwing a smile of approval towards Al.

**But then it struck Mr Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt – these people were obviously collecting for something ... yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on, and a few minutes later, Mr Dursley arrived in the Grunnings car park, his mind back on drills. **

"One track mind this one" muttered Scorpius, cowering slightly at the look Rose sent him for interrupting her. She was getting pretty sick of it. She wanted to get to the answers, not be stuck reading about the Dursleys until curfew.

**Mr Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at night-time.**

Here the trio of second years frowned slightly, all catching on to this fact. What was going on to cause the wizarding world to be in such a flurry?

**Mr Dursley had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls**

Scorpius quickly started scribbling down on his list.

**and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunch-time, when he thought he'd stretch his legs**

Albus and James exchanged looks, remembering their trip to the Dursleys and not believing for once instant that he would go on a walk because he was in a good mood.

**and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the baker's opposite. **

And just like that the disbelief evaporated from their faces.

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This lot were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying. **

'**The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard –' **

'– **yes, their son, Harry –' **

They all traded glances with each other, a shiver of dread running down their spines though they weren't quite sure why yet.

**Mr Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it. **

**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone and had almost finished dialling his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his moustache, thinking ... no, he was being stupid.**

James did a double take at the book "You mean he's finally noticed?"

Fred pretended to stroke an invisible moustache, similar to the way Vernon Dursley was doing in the book "well they do say that the first way to recovery, is admitting you have a problem in the first place"

"Well you better come out of denial soon, or you're never going to get better" Rose said sweetly before quickly continuing to read.

**Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry. **

Here the cousins frowned again. Coming from as large a family as they did, it was hard for them to believe that this man could be so out of connection with his family that he didn't even know his nephew's name. Sure, Uncle George liked to teasingly get his nieces and nephews names mixed up, but he never actually forgot who they all were. For such a family-orientated family, this man's behaviour was making them all a bit indignant.

**He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold.**

James and Fred turned to look at each other with a grimace "Harvey Potter?"

"It doesn't have the right ring to it, does it?"

**There was no point in worrying Mrs Dursley, she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her – if he'd had a sister like that ...**

James's face flushed an angry red colour whilst Albus's eyes narrowed in great dislike. "A sister like what exactly?"

"Grandma Lily was ten times a better person than you were"

**but all the same, those people in cloaks ... **

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon, and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door. **

'**Sorry,' he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell.**

"Poor bloke" muttered Fred to James, trying to get his friend's mind off the insult to his Gran though he was angry too. Though Lily Potter wasn't his Gran, she was still his family and you didn't insult family in front of the Potters/Weasleys if you didn't want to wake up to stink bombs in your face for two weeks.

**It was a few seconds before Mr Dursley realised that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passers-by stare:**

Scorpius snorted lightly "anyone else think this sounds like Flitwick?"

'**Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy happy day!' **

Rose let out a small gasp as she realized what day this was. Looking around their little circle she could see in Al's eyes he was slowly realizing what it was too.

**And the old man hugged Mr Dursley around the middle and walked off. **

"His arms fit?" Fred asked incredulously

James's eyes were wide in disbelief "un-detectable extension charm maybe?"

**Mr Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination. **

James and Fred fell off their chairs again, spluttering in indignation and floundering at the thought of not approving of imagination. Imagination was incredibly important! Otherwise how could you think of new prank ideas?

**As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw – and it didn't improve his mood – was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes. **

Al and Scorpius shared a look "definitely McGonagall"

'**Shoo!' said Mr Dursley loudly. **

**The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look.**

James, Fred, Albus, and Scorpius all smirked, having been on the receiving end of that look several times.

**Was this normal cat behaviour, Mr Dursley wondered.**

"Normal Minnie behaviour" James chirped, finally pulling himself together after the shock of someone not approving of imagination.

**Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife. **

**Mrs Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learnt a new word ('Shan't!').**

Rose looked disapprovingly at the book in her hands, not even wanting to think about what this boy would have been like to live with.

**Mr Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living-room in time to catch the last report on the evening news: **

'**And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern.' The news reader allowed himself a grin. 'Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?' **

'**Well, Ted,' said the weatherman,**

James and Albus grinned.

"Teddy" they exclaimed, missing their godbrother and looking forward to seeing him during the Christmas break. Rose bit her lip while Scorpius looked confused.

"Teddy? Isn't that your godbrother? The one who's training to become an Auror?"

James nodded excitedly, looking ready to launch into an explanation of their awesome friend but Rose cut him off.

"Do you think we should tell Teddy about these books?"

Fred looked at her "Why? He'd tell the adults for sure"

"Well, it's just that...his dad will be in these books, his mum too. I think he deserve to read these books more than any of us."

There was a silence as they digested this. It was true that Teddy only knew what others had told him about his parents but it would be different to read it for himself; to read the exact words used by his parents...

Albus was looking around their little group, trying to see what everyone else thought about it. He knew he'd feel incredible guilty in not telling Teddy, more guilty than he already did about reading this behind his dad's back. "I think we should tell him. He knows more about Dad's past than us but he still doesn't know all of it. And his parents were in the thick of it. How about when we go home for the holidays tomorrow, we tell him and he can decide whether he wants to join in, yeah?"

The others nodded their agreement and seeing as that was now sorted, Rose found her place and continued.

'**I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early – it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight.' **

**Mr Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters ... **

Albus snorted slightly and leaned over to whisper to Scorpius "If he could figure it out, it's a surprise the whole Muggle world hadn't worked it out. Great Uncle Vernon is about as attentive as Binns"

**Mrs Dursley came into the living-room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. 'Er – Petunia, dear – you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?' **

**As he had expected, Mrs Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister. **

They all frowned at this reminder, Rose and James flushing the famous Weasley red whilst Fred tried to get his own anger under control "Well I wouldn't blame Lily Potter for pretending you weren't _her _sister if that's the way you act"

'**No,' she said sharply. 'Why?' **

'**Funny stuff on the news,' Mr Dursley mumbled. 'Owls ... shooting stars ... and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today ...' **

'**So?' snapped Mrs Dursley. **

'**Well, I just thought ... maybe ... it was something to do with ... you know ... **_**her lot**_**.**

"Her lot?" hissed Rose, insulted "What's that supposed to mean?"

Albus sighed "'most likely it means witches and wizards. The only time we met them only Cousin Dudley actually used those words"

Scorpius frowned "But why? They're just words"

Albus turned to his friend, trying to think how best to explain his Great Aunt and Uncle's aversion to magic. "Think of it like how the magical world used to be afraid of saying Voldemort. They called him 'You-Know-Who' and other stupid names because they were scared of him. It's kinda like that; they're scared of magic so they don't want to say anything that relates to it"

**Mrs Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name 'Potter'. He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, 'Their son – he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?' **

'**I suppose so,' said Mrs Dursley stiffly. **

'**What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?'**

'**Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me.' **

"No one did" muttered James. It usually took a lot to get him this aggravated yet this book was already doing a brilliant job at it, and it wasn't even the end of the chapter yet!

'**Oh, yes,' said Mr Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. 'Yes, I quite agree.' **

**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it was waiting for something. **

**Was he imagining things? **

Fred raised his eyebrows "Thought you didn't approve of imagination?"

**Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did ... if it got out that they were related to a pair of – well, he didn't think he could bear it. **

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind ... He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on. He yawned and turned over. It couldn't affect them ... **

**How very wrong he was. **

"Wish he wasn't" mutter Al, more for his dad's sake than his own. From what he could remember of the visit to the Dursleys his dad had not liked being anywhere near that house and he could only imagine why that was. 'Well, I guess I won't have to imagine why' he thought gloomily 'this book will probably tell me why.'

**Mr Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed in the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all. **

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed. **

"Who do you think it is?" asked Fred, leaning around Rose to try and read ahead, anxious to get his friend's mind off of the Dursleys.

James smirked "Obviously it's Kingsley, who else would decide to have a stroll down Privet Drive?"

"Professor Strockpott might have, seeing as all our teachers seem to be in the area"

"Professor Strockpott wasn't teaching back then was he?"

"He's ancient enough to have"

"Well, which other professor could it have been?"

Rose raised her voice over the conversation before the two boys started listing every male professor at Hogwarts.

**Nothing like this man had ever been seen in Privet Drive. He was tall, thin and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak which swept the ground and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice.**

Albus gave a small start. He recognised this man's description, recognised him from the portrait in the headmistresses office. It was his namesake after all.

**This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

Almost as one everyone turned to look at their own Albus, James and Fred with identical smirks on their faces.

"If you want to confess to wear high-heels Albie, don't worry, we won't laugh"

Albus merely rolled his eyes, not wanting to get into this with those two who would most likely try and force him into high-heels for the sake of 'living up to his name'. He'd much rather be labelled bookworm for life by them than be forced to try and walk in those death traps.

Rose however shared a grin with Scorpius that went unnoticed by the other three. They both agreed that Albus seemed to have more than a name in common with Dumbledore; his eyes, though bright green, sparkled with the same light as they imagined Dumbledore's would have.

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realise that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. **

"He probably didn't care" said James, reclining in his chair, balancing on the back legs "If the stories we've heard were true"

**He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realise he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, 'I should have known.'**

**He had found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop.**

Rose looked surprised "That's Dad's Deluminator. He did say he got it from Dumbledore. I suppose we'll see how in these books"

**He clicked it again – the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer,**

Scorpius looked at Rose, confused "I thought you said it was called a Deluminator?" he asked her.

Rose nodded, wondering why any other name was used "That's what Dad calls it...maybe when Dumbledore made he couldn't decide what to call it so he called it a 'Put-Outer' until he thought of a good enough name?"

**until the only lights left in the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street towards number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it. **

'**Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall.'**

James and Fred exchanged smirks even though they all knew it was coming. Once you had seen McGonagall's animagus form you'd recognise her anywhere.

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled. **

Fred and James traded impressed looks. They had made it their life mission to get as many emotions out of McGonagall as possible and 'ruffled' was not one they had seen so far.

'**How did you know it was me?' she asked. **

Scorpius snorted lightly "anyone with eyes could tell it was her"

"Only if you had seen her transformation before" Rose pointed out fairly.

"Well I'd hope Dumbledore would have seen it before that day. She's one of his teachers after all, if he couldn't tell just by looking at her then he obviously didn't pay as much attention as he should have." His voice may have been completely serious but the twinkle of amusement in his eyes told Rose that he was joking. He'd never insult Dumbledore in a harmful way in front of Al, mainly because that was one sure fire way to get Al angry; a very hard thing to do.

'**My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly.' **

"Well there's that too" Scorpius conceded with a wry grin.

'**You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day,' said Professor McGonagall. **

'**All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here.' **

Albus looked down at this.

"...they're celebrating a family being torn apart..." he whispered, not really meaning to think out loud but when he realized Rose had stopped reading he looked up to see the rest of them, bowing their heads in respect for James and Lily Potter. He caught his brother's eye and managed a half-hearted smile. Though they argued a lot, they were still brothers and he still sometimes wanted reassurance from his big brother; reassurance that he wasn't the only one who wished that they could've met their grandparents.

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily. **

'**Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right,' she said impatiently. 'You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no – even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news.' She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. 'I heard it. Flocks of owls ... shooting stars ... Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent – I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense.' **

'**You can't blame them,' said Dumbledore gently. 'We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years.' **

"I knew the first war was long, but I never knew it lasted for eleven year" whispered Rose, the sombre mood around them not allowing her to speak normally.

'**I know that,' said Professor McGonagall irritably. 'But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumours.' **

**She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on: 'A fine thing it would be if, on the day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?' **

'**It certainly seems so,' said Dumbledore. 'We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a sherbet lemon?' **

Scorpius looked up in bewilderment "A what?"

Albus smiled slightly at him "They're a Muggle sweet, they're really good"

James leaned over with a smirk "Al smuggles them in every holiday seeing as you can't get them here. I swear he can't live without his sherbet lemons"

Al swatted him on the arm "like you can't live without your chocolate frogs"

'**A what?' **

"Didn't we just go through this?" Fred groaned, throwing a teasing smirk towards Scorpius who had flushed lightly at saying the same thing as his headmistress.

'**A sherbet lemon. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of.'**

Rose grinned at Al "I suppose now we know why Uncle Harry laughs every time he buys you sherbet lemons"

Al grinned back at her "And why McGonagall smiles whenever she catches me eating them." He was surprised but happy to find another thing he had in common with one of his namesakes. It was nice to know that he had even this small thing in common with such a great man, other than his love of reading.

'**No, thank you,' said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for sherbet lemons.**

Al opened his mouth in mock-outrage "It's always the moment for sherbet lemons" and as if to prove his point he took a bag of them out his pocket and happily started to eat them, giving one to Scorpius so he could try.

'**As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone –'**

'**My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this "You-Know-Who" nonsense – for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: **_**Voldemort**_**.' Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two sherbet lemons, seemed not to notice. 'It all gets so confusing if we keep saying "You-Know-Who". ' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name.'**

"I never would have thought McGonagall used to be scared of saying the name" Scorpius muttered. To him, his headmistress seemed far too tough to even flinch at the sound of an explosion going off, let alone just a single name.

"Shows you just how frightening he was though" pointed out Rose, glad she would never have to find out what it was like to fear even a name of a person.

'**I know you haven't,' said Professor McGonagall, sounding half-exasperated, half-admiring. 'But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know – oh, all right, Voldemort – was frightened of.'**

'**You flatter me,' said Dumbledore calmly. 'Voldemort had powers I will never have.' **

'**Only because you're too – well – noble to use them.' **

'**It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs.' **

Fred and James looked like they didn't know whether to laugh or to grimace. They chose to laugh, sniggering at the thought of this powerful old man wearing ludicrous pairs of earmuffs.

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, 'The owls are nothing to the rumours that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?' **

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever 'everyone' was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another sherbet lemon and did not answer. **

'**What they're saying,' she pressed on, 'is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumour is that Lily and James Potter are – are – that they're – dead.' **

Albus pulled his legs up to his chest, resting his head on his knees as his eyes dulled in sadness, Scorpius leaned over and squeezed his shoulder in a silent show of comfort, whilst Fred did the same for James who had his head bowed and seemed to be having a staring contest with the floor. It had never really hit him properly how little he knew about his grandparents on his father's side. He knew that they had died, seen their gravestones, their old house, he was even named after his grandfather.

But he had never felt grief for all the lost memories he could have had until then. Al obviously did but that was because he was more sensitive than James, always more in-tune with other people's emotions. Now though he wondered whether that really was a good thing, like their mum was always saying it was.

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped. **

'**Lily and James ... I can't believe it ... I didn't want to believe it ... Oh, Albus ...' **

The two Potters smiled faintly at that. It was nice to know that McGonagall hared cared so much about them.

James bit his lip slightly, not really comfortable in voicing his thoughts aloud in front of his little brother and his best friend but he couldn't hold it in. "Do you think, if I asked her, she would tell me about them?...I hardly know much about him..."

Albus smiled at him, latching on to this slightly happier, though not by much, topic "You can come with me next time I go to talk with Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape. I'll take to them while you can talk to McGonagall, alright?"

James gave him a slight grin and nodded, though he couldn't help wondering when was the last time he had gone anywhere willingly with Albus?

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. 'I know ... I know ...' he said heavily. **

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. 'That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potters' son, Harry.**

Dead silence followed these words before;

"What!"

Both Potter boys had paled even more, rounding on Rose with wide eyes. They couldn't believe that he tried to kill their dad when he was a baby!

Scorpius bit his lip, not comfortable with seeing his friend look that pale and nervous "Don't worry Al, your dad's fine, right?"

Rose looked at him with a raised eyebrow "That's not the point Scorp. He tried to kill a baby! After killing his parents!"

Fred looked around worried "We really need Teddy here." When Rose turned to look at him, he went on to explain "we really know nothing about Uncle Harry's life. Teddy knows the most so he should be able to explain things right? Like why Voldemort tried to kill Uncle Harry when he was a baby"

"Plus" he added in an undertone to Rose "he would know best at how to comfort those two" he nodded towards the still shocked brothers. "They practically grew up around him right?"

**But – he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke – and that's why he's gone.' **

**Dumbledore nodded glumly.**

'**It's – it's true?' faltered Professor McGonagall. 'After all he's done ... all the people he's killed ... he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding ... of all the things to stop him ... but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?'**

'**We can only guess,' said Dumbledore. 'We may never know.' **

"He knows" James muttered, finally coming out of his shock induced trance. Who could blame him though, he had just found out a psycho megalomaniac tried to kill his dad when he was a baby. "Dad always said Dumbledore knew most things before anyone else"

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, 'Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?' **

Albus perked up a bit at Hagrid's name and shared a small grin with Rose and Scorpius. They all loved Hagrid, the 'second coming of the Golden Trio' he had called them once, and he was one of the first people they would go to if they needed help or comfort.

'**Yes,' said Professor McGonagall. 'And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?' **

'**I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now.'**

Here they all groaned, not wanting to be reminded of the Dursleys.

'**You don't mean – you can't mean the people who live here?' cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. 'Dumbledore – you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son – I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter, come and live here?' **

Even though she already knew the outcome, Rose couldn't help wishing that McGonagall managed to change Dumbledore's mind.

'**It's the best place for him,' said Dumbledore firmly. 'His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter.'**

Rose's eyes narrowed as her ears turned red in anger "A letter?" she snapped "He's telling a woman that her sister has died and he's giving her her nephew... with a letter! How would that explain his accidental magic? The truth about our world? All the different-"

Scorpius cut her off "If you don't stop ranting I'll take the book off you"

She glared at him but hide behind the pages again, anger still colouring her voice as she read.

'**A letter?' repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. 'Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous – a legend – I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter Day in future**

Fred snorted and grinned at James "How do you think your dad will take it if we start a petition for a 'Harry Potter Day'?" James gave a hoot of laughter as he imagined his dad's face at that. He would be absolutely mortified.

– **there will be books written about Harry – **

They all shared a look as Rose raised the book higher to hide her amused smile.

**every child in our world will know his name!'**

'**Exactly,' said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. 'It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?'**

Rose sighed and looked around "Despite the fact that he's leaving him with the Dursleys, that's actually a very good point"

Fred frowned at her "Doesn't mean he had to leave him with the Dursleys. I'm sure there are other people capable of taking care of a kid"

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed and then said, 'Yes – yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?' She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it. **

James and Fred shuddered in mock-fear whilst making exaggerated faces of disgust.

'**Hagrid's bringing him.'**

'**You think it – wise – to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?'**

The second year trio all made faces of indignation. "Hagrid's brilliant!"

'**I would trust Hagrid with my life,' said Dumbledore. **

"Just don't trust him with your secrets" mumbled Fred with a wince. They all loved Hagrid to death but they knew how loose his tongue could be when drunk.

'**I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place,' said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, 'but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to – what was that?' **

They all looked nervous, wondering what it could possibly be now.

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky – and a huge motorbike fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them. **

You could literally see the stars in James and Fred's eyes.

"I think I have a new life's ambition" James whispered in reverent awe.

Fred looked up at them with a mad gleam in his eye "You know how it's my birthday soon? That's what I want"

Rose looked at the two of them, exasperated "It's a flying death trap. No-one in their right mind would get you two one of those, let alone enchant it to make it fly"

**If the motorbike was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild – long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of dustbin lids and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**

"And Dad makes his first appearance" grinned James, while Rose looked like she was looking forward to hearing about her baby Uncle.

'**Hagrid,' said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. 'At last. And where did you get that motorbike?' **

'**Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir,' said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorbike as he spoke. 'Young Sirius Black lent it me.**

James whooped and grinned, this was even more reason to want a flying motorcycle in his eyes. "See! That just makes it even more awesome. I have to get one now Rosie, I need to live up to my name"

Rose narrowed her eyes "Don't call me Rosie. And you don't need the bike to live up to your name, I thought annoying Professor McGonagall to an early grave was living it up enough."

**I've got him, sir.' **

'**No problems, were there?' **

'**No, sir – house was almost destroyed but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol.' **

Rose cooed slightly while her best friends traded bemused expressions, wondering if she really did understand that this was her uncle she was cooing over.

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning. **

'**Is that where –?' whispered Professor McGonagall. **

'**Yes,' said Dumbledore. 'He'll have that scar forever.' **

"So that's how he got it" mumbled Al, knowing, as did all his family, his dad's strong dislike for the scar on his forehead.

'**Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?' **

'**Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in useful. I have one myself above my left knee which is a perfect map of the London Underground.**

Fred grinned "how do you think he got that?"

"No clue. Be one hell of a story though wouldn't it?" said James, a faraway look of his face as he tried to imagine how he could have got that scar.

**Well – give him here, Hagrid – we'd better get this over with.' **

**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned towards the Dursleys' house. **

'**Could I – could I say goodbye to him, sir?' asked Hagrid. **

**He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

James and Fred re-enacted his howl with their own pitiful whimpers thrown in, causing Scorpius and Al to laugh and Rose to look half-amused, half-annoyed at the interruption.

'**Shhh!' hissed Professor McGonagall. 'You'll wake the Muggles!'**

"Not very good at comforting people is she?" snorted Scorpius.

"What are you talking about? McGonagall's the very picture of maternal caring" exclaimed Fred in mock-outrage causing James to snort loudly as he tried to imagine a maternal McGonagall.

'**S-s-sorry,' sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. 'But I c-c-can't stand it – Lily an' James dead – an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles –' **

'**Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found,' Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep,**

"On the doorstep?" Rose exclaimed "It's the first of November! And in the middle of the night, and there was supposed to be rain that night!"

**took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out. **

"No, not the twinkle!" exclaimed Fred and James, falling out their chairs in exaggerated shock. It was important to them to try and keep everyone's spirit up now that Harry would be living with the Dursleys.

Again Scorpius and Rose swapped glancing, seemingly agreeing that they never wanted to see a time where the light left Albus's eyes.

'**Well,' said Dumbledore finally, 'that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations.' **

'**Yeah,' said Hagrid in a very muffled voice. 'I'd best get this bike away. G'night, Professor McGonagall – Professor Dumbledore, sir.' **

**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself on to the motorbike and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night. **

'**I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall,' said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.**

"I am so doing that the next time she asks me a question" exclaimed James gleefully.

Rose let out a frustrated breath "We're almost at the end so will you please stop interrupting?"

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.**

'**Good luck, Harry,' he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak he was gone. **

Albus sighed "he's going to need it."

When Rose turned to look at him with a glare he just threw her a cheeky smile and mimed zipping his lips.

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley ... He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: 'To Harry Potter – the boy who lived!' **

There was a small stretch of silence as they all digested this before Rose shut the book and moved to put it in her bag. At the others questioning glances she explained.

"I don't think we should read anymore tonight. Knowing you two, Fred and James, I'm going to bet you haven't packed yet to go home so you need to do that, we're leaving tomorrow morning after all. Besides, I don't think we should read anymore until we've got Teddy with us"

The others nodded in understanding before they all got up, James and Fred leaving the classroom before the other three, giving Al a noogie on the way past.

When it was just the three of them left Scorpius handing the rest of the books over to Rose for safe keeping.

"It's a good thing you're coming to my house for Christmas Scorp" Al turned to grin at his friend, wanting to break the silence in the room before it got awkward. He was glad that his friend had found the books but he didn't want to dwell on the fact that his dad had a murderer out for his blood since he was a baby.

Scorpius smiled and slung his arm around Al's shoulders "Yup, first time Dad's business trips have been welcomed. Think about it; a whole two weeks of reading books, dodging your brother's pranks, and aggravating Rosie"

Rose slapped his arm from the other side of Al "Don't call me Rosie or I'll jinx you"

Al laughed quietly "Aww come on Rosie, you love us really"

Rose just huffed out a laugh before leading the way out of the classroom, her best friends behind her, chuckling at her expense; all of them looking forward to tomorrow and the next chapter.


	2. The Vanishing Glass

**A/N: Okay here's the second chapter! As promised, sorry it's a little late but I was on holiday where there was no internet connection **** Anyway enjoy, and let me know if you want any characters like Hugo and Lily to join them.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, any of the characters, or any of the bold writing. I only own my imagination.**

In the early morning of the next day Albus woke up courtesy of his older brother pouring multicoloured slime on him, which he then realized was one Uncle George's new products that he had 'given' James and Fred to test. As it was, even after washing off the slime his hair wouldn't stop changing colour. It seemed to work like Teddy's metamorphmagus powers, the colour changing with his mood, which was why, when he went down for breakfast and to meet with Scorpius his hair was a fiery Weasley red.

Thankfully Rose hadn't commented on it and all Scorpius did was give him a sympathetic grimace before handing him a bowl of cornflakes. It wasn't unusual now to see Scorpius eating at the Gryffindor table. Back when the trio first became friends in first year, on Halloween, the teachers had politely told them that they had to sit with their houses.

Al and Rose hadn't liked that.

For about a week, the trio didn't go to the great hall for meals and instead went straight to the kitchens until the headmistress had relented and let their friend sit with them.

Breakfast was over with quickly and soon all three of them were on the Hogwarts Express, heading home for Christmas break. Scorpius's father, Draco Malfoy, had been called away on a business trip to southern Europe and the original plan was for Scorpius to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas. This however was shot down pretty quickly when Al invited his best friend over for a Potter/Weasley Christmas.

They were just discussing how best to go about informing Teddy about the books they had found when James and Fred slid into their compartment.

"Are you sure we can't read a bit more now? It'll take hours to get to London" asked James as he plopped himself down across from his brother and swung his legs up to rest them on Al's. Albus pushed them off before answering.

"James, remind me of how many of our relative are on this train?"

"Well there's Dom, Luis, Roxie, Molly, and Lucy, not including all of us in this carriage, why?"

"What do you suppose Molly or even Lucy would do if they happened to stumble into us reading?"

Before James could answer Rose butted in.

"What's wrong with reading?" she asked indignantly.

Ignoring Fred's murmur of 'everything' Scorpius leaned across to pat her reassuringly on the knee "there's nothing wrong with reading Rosie, Al is just a big a bookworm as you remember? What I think he means is: how suspicious is it going to look if _James _and _Fred_ are in a compartment with Al, not pranking him, not arguing with him, but actually reading with him?"

Rose swatted his arm with a huff "Don't call me Rosie"

But she conceded that he did have a point. James and Fred huffed before getting up again.

"Well if we aren't reading then we're going to go. Don't want to spend more time than necessary with you three nerds after all" said Fred with a wink before both boys departed to go find their friends.

The rest of the journey went by quickly, filled with inside jokes, Bertie Botts every flavour beans, and the occasional spell of reading.

When they arrived at King's Cross, Ginny Potter was there with her daughter Lily and her nephew Hugo, waiting to welcome her sons, nephews, and nieces home. After hugging many of her nieces and nephews she finally found one of her sons. After collecting James and Fred she started to look around for her second son while Lily badgered James about Hogwarts.

It took nearly ten minutes but at last she saw Albus and Rose and she happily waved them over, hugging them both before turning on Scorpius with a friendly smile.

"Hello Scorpius, I'm Ginny, Albus's mum. I hope you haven't had too much trouble from my son this year" she shot Albus a warning look, still not very impressed about the time she got a letter from the school explaining how Albus had nearly destroyed a classroom duelling with an older Slytherin boy (even if it was this act of 'Gryffindor Recklessness' that had started Al and Scorp's friendship in the first place).

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Potter" he greeted with a polite smile and a bow of his head, the manners his mother had drilled into him coming into play "and if you mean the duelling-" Albus stamped on his foot with a sharp look and a painfully forced grin "-there is nothing to report on that note" he finished throwing a sheepish grin to his friend.

Ginny gave her son a suspicious look before turning back to him "Please, just call me Ginny. We're very pleased to have you over for the holidays".

With one final smile at Scorpius, she quickly turned away and started to corral James, Fred, Hugo and Lily towards the barrier.

On the way home she explained to the boys and Rose that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were working on a case and that's why they weren't able to come to the station. On the other hand Teddy managed to get a week's holiday, and they were all going to the burrow the day after tomorrow to celebrate everyone coming home for Christmas.

Soon enough they were pulling into the drive way of the Potter's home, a country house near the village of Godric's Hollow. With a grin, Albus led the way up to his room where he would be sharing with Scorpius. Ginny had already put in an extra bed for him.

Scorpius took a few minutes to admire his friend's bedroom before he was being tugged back downstairs and shown all over the house, including the large back garden which was filled with many kinds of interesting plants and had plenty of room to practise Quidditch, with a large orchard hiding it from view.

It was while Al was explaining to Scorpius the many different plants they had that a young man with bright turquoise blue hair strolled down to meet them, seeing as he had already been bombarded with questions and queries from James and hadn't missed the absence of the youngest Potter boy.

As soon as Al saw Teddy he immediately introduced him to Scorpius, explaining about how this man was his godbrother and was training to be an auror (Scorpius refrained from reminding Al that he already knew this, as he had pestered the younger boy about Teddy as soon as he found out they were related).

"We have something we want to show you" said Al, looking up at Teddy with a serious expression "but you can't tell the adults, alright?"

Teddy gave him a strange look, wondering why Albus wanted him to keep whatever this thing was a secret. Usually it was James that did things you would tell the adults about; Albus didn't want to disappoint anyone so he usually didn't get into too much trouble. What could it be that he needed to be kept secret?

Seeing Teddy's inquisitive look, Albus traded looks with Scorpius.

"We'll tell you when the others are present".

Barely were the words out of his mouth when Scorpius elbowed his friend and pointed towards the house where an annoyed looking Rose Weasley was storming down the garden, tugging Fred and James along by their ears.

"Never leave me alone with those two again, you understand?" she hissed at her two best friends before turning to look at Teddy with a pleasant smile.

"Hello again Teddy, has Albus told you about the thing we found yet?"

"No" he answered with a bemused expression at the pitiful noises to the two pranksters were making.

With a noise of comprehension she launched into an explanation of the books and a summary of what they had already read. Needless to say Teddy was shocked and immediately demanded to see these books. When Scorpius handed over the first one he immediately started to check it for curses, jinxes, and hexes, just in case these books weren't as harmless as these teenagers thought.

"Didn't any of you listen to you Grandpa Weasley? Or even Harry? Haven't they told you enough times not to trust anything that doesn't show where it hides its brain? Ginny warns us enough times about strange books"

"Well it's not like we could ask a teacher to check them for us" Albus pointed out fairly before taking the book back and looking up expectantly at Teddy "So, do you want to read them with us? If you don't at least swear you won't tell"

Teddy was silent for a while, thinking it all over. He didn't feel right invading his godfather's privacy like this but at the same time his curiosity was caught. He could know more about his parents, what they were like beyond the tales of what he had been told, how they acted, how they met...the longing he had had since he could remember strengthened, the longing to know more about his parents. There really was no choice in it that he could see for himself.

"Alright, I'll read with you but we better find a place where we can read without Lily, Hugo, Ginny, or Harry interrupting us... and a plausible excuse for why we're all in the one place".

They all thought for a moment before Scorpius put forward a tentative suggestion.

"What if Rose dragged us off to somewhere, James and Fred follow to torment Al, and then you go with us to do damage control?"

Teddy considered this, it was a good plan, and more importantly believable so he agreed. In the next fifteen minutes they had all gathered in the attic, Ginny finishing an article, while Lily and Hugo played in the living room.

Al held up the book "Who wants to read now?"

Teddy smiled and held up a hand; ignoring the looks of betrayal James and Fred sent him and opened up to the second chapter.

"**The Vanishing Glass**"

Rose beamed in excitement "Do you think this will show us some of Uncle Harry's accidental magic?"

"I hope so" muttered Fred, his eyes gleaming in mischief "think he can top mine of setting off all the joke shop merchandise Dad had in the room?"

James scoffed "That's nothing; I managed to stick all my paints onto Al. They didn't come off for a week"

Albus scowled slightly at that memory, his cheeks tinged pink in embarrassment.

Teddy snorted "and I remember how he got you back. He silenced you for the entire week. A more peaceful week has never been had in this house" and before they could start arguing he read on.

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all.**

"How boring can you get?" complained Fred, whose house was always changing, whether it be colour, furniture, or even turning itself upside down.

"This is the man who picked out his most boring tie for work" Rose reminded him

"And doesn't approve of imagination" James added with a shudder.

**The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living-room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed.**

Scorpius raised his eyebrows "I know it said it hardly changed but that's just ridiculous"

Albus suppressed a snort with difficulty "if you think that's ridiculous you should see it now. Photographs and the absence of Dudley are the only things that have changed from this description"

Chuckling slightly at Scorpius mixed expression of shock and exasperation, Teddy read on.

**Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-coloured bobble hats –**

At this James and Fred burst out laughing while the others tried to hide their own laughter.

**but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby,**

Not even Rose could hold back her laughter at that, although her disgust that a parent would let their child grow up fat like that showed on her face, causing the others to laugh even harder at her expression.

**and now the photographs showed a large, blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a roundabout at the fair, playing a computer game with his father,**

Scorpius jumped to his feet with an alarmed look on his face and bolted out the attic, presumably to Al's room.

James, Fred, and Teddy all looked towards the door that Scorpius had run through with curious expressions.

"Err what just happened?" Asked Fred, turning to look at the experts of all things blonde, Slytherin, and second year.

Rose and Al shared a smirk before answering in unison "list"

The other three boys barely had time to look even more confused when Scorpius was back with a long piece of parchment and a quill and started to write down all the things he had just heard.

Al smiled, amused at his friend before leaning over to whisper to him "if you want, I'll show you some of those objects. Cousin Dudley spoils us rotten with Muggle objects"

Scorpius smiled at him and nodded in agreement before turning back to the book while Rose shook her head fondly at her boys.

**being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too. **

They all exchanged glances, knowing that Harry was still there but all slightly hoping that he had been taken away, even though they knew the truth.

**Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice which made the first noise of the day. **

'**Up! Get up! Now!' **

Rose grimaced "sounds like Molly"

When she realised that all the boys except Teddy had turned to look at her, she blushed slightly before hurriedly explaining.

"Every morning she goes into all the girls dorms to wake us all up so we can get to class on time. It's so annoying and most of us go back to sleep after she does".

James was smirking, shooting a calculating look towards Albus that Fred caught with a grin

"How early does she do this?"

Rowe narrowed her eyes in suspicion "...around six every morning...why?..."

James flashed her an innocent smile while Fred started whistling.

"No reason"

**Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again. **

'**Up!' she screeched. Harry heard her walking towards the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the cooker.**

James, Fred, and Rose's stomachs grumbled. At the others looks James and Fred started moaning about how hungry they were while Rose blushed and looked down, avoiding her boys fond looks. Rose being hungry was no new thing to the boys; she had inherited her father's appetite.

**He rolled on to his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorbike in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before. **

Teddy looked impressed "that's incredible, that he can remember that"

Rose frowned lightly "but he was only a baby, and he was asleep. How on earth does he remember that?"

Teddy smiled at her, ignoring Fred and James's groans as he went on to explain.

"Some children, especially young children use feeling, and their senses to associate with different things. If Harry knew the sensation of flying from the bike he might remember it if he felt a similar sensation around the time before he had the dream"

Rose was obviously itching to ask more but from the desperate looks Al and Scorpius shot him, he continued to read.

**His aunt was back outside the door. **

'**Are you up yet?' she demanded. **

Rose groaned, temporarily forgetting about her questions at Petunia's behaviour.

"She's just like Molly!"

The other two second years patted her back in sympathy while try to stifle their chuckles. Fred grinned innocently at Rose.

"If you missed it that much Rosie all you had to do was say"

James grinned along at Rose's dawning look of horror.

"Yeah, we'll be glad to fill in for Molly during the holidays"

'**Nearly,' said Harry. **

'**Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday.' **

Teddy frowned at this while Scorpius gave the book an odd look that was half way between nervous and concern.

"They made him cook?"

Fred looked flabbergasted "mum still doesn't let me even near the kitchen!"

James gave him a rather forced grin, wondering if this early practise was what enabled his father to cook up the brilliant meals that he enjoyed so often. It was often contested behind the adults backs who was the better cook: Grandma Weasley or Harry.

"Yeah well mate, you tend to blow up anything that's even slightly flammable so she has good reason too"

**Harry groaned. **

'**What did you say?' his aunt snapped through the door 'Nothing, nothing ...' **

**Dudley's birthday – how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off**

Rose let out an involuntary squeak and hid her embarrassed face in Albus's arm, away from Scorpius's incredulous look

"Don't tell me you're scared of spiders!"

All he got for a reply was a punch on the arm courtesy of a scarlet faced Weasley.

**one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept. **

There was a stunned silence through the room. Teddy was staring down at the words with a sick feeling rising in him, making him resist the urge to puke.

Albus didn't look much better. His face was pure white and he was shaking slightly as he lowered his wide, blank eyes to the ground.

Scorpius looked disturbed and angry at the way they were treating their own nephew, a man that he looked up to a lot, a man who accepted him no questions asked. He noticed his best friend shaking slightly at his side and looked to Rose for help, not really surprised to see her trying to stop herself from crying. Her glassy eyes stared at him before they both threw their arms around Albus's shoulder, encasing him in a hug, as though to shield him from what they had just read.

Fred was white with anger and shock, and James was slowly going red as his anger at this injustice to his father took over his shock for the moment

"They made him sleep in a cupboard?" Fred hissed out, eyes flashing. Unconsciously he looked towards Al. It was all too easy to see his uncle as a child, see a child like Al forced to be in a tiny cupboard.

James caught Fred's glance towards Al and his anger froze and self-disgust followed it. When he was eight, he had locked Al in his wardrobe for two hours because he had annoyed him so much. He had never seen Al that scared, and it was the first time his father had ever properly told him off, the disappointment and anger rolling off of his quiet words.

Now he felt even worse about that, seeing as his father had to live there for ten years.

Teddy shook his head in disgust "at least he's going to Hogwarts soon"

That gave some of them a little bit of hope, though none of them could pretend to see that Al hadn't stopped shaking.

**When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. **

**The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had got the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. **

**Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise – unless of course it involved punching somebody.**

Most of them started glaring at the books, wanting it to shut up. James's entire face was an angry red colour, his eyes almost daring the book to say what he thought was coming.

Albus curled tighter into himself.

**Dudley's favourite punch-bag was Harry, but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast. **

Fred made a brave attempt at loosening the ever growing tension "Just like Al. I swear I can look one way and he'll have disappeared in the next second"

Scorpius nodded warily "it's hell to try and keep up with him when we're going to classes in a hurry"

Rose bit her tongue to stop herself from commenting, wanting to try and get Al back to normal, but she still couldn't stop herself from throwing a reproachful look towards James. It was running and hiding from all his pranks that had helped make Al so fast in the first place.

**Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. **

Teddy gave a small smile "if these two are anything to go by" he nodded towards the two Potter's currently present "then it's genetics fault, sorry"

Ignoring James's protests that he wasn't a midget like his brother, Teddy read on with a little smile of victory; Al had looked up at him for the jibe at his height (or lack of therefore) and he was slowly stopping his shaking.

**He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was.**

Rose huffed indignantly "honestly, these people. It doesn't cost that much to raise a child, especially if they can afford to spoil Dudley. They can at least buy Uncle Harry clothes"

**Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair and bright-green eyes.**

Almost as one, all faces turned to look at Al whose chin was resting on his knees, and looked around all the people staring at him with a startled look.

"What?" he asked nervously.

Scorpius smirked at him "Just wondering if you aren't your father's clone instead of his son"

Albus scowled and elbowed him in the side, causing both Rose and Scorpius to let go of him. Elbowing Scorpius meant he was back to normal.

**He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Sellotape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.**

There were a lot of teeth gritting at this. Teddy bit his lip but ploughed on, knowing if he left it too long someone would start shouting and he wasn't too sure it wouldn't be him.

**The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead which was shaped like a bolt of lightning.**

Fred spluttered "he liked it?"

James gaped at the book "He hates it. Everyone stares at it whenever they meet him"

"He probably didn't know what it meant" whispered Al, looking miserable again causing his friends to glance at each other and shrug, not sure how to cheer him up.

**He had had it as long as he could remember and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had got it. **

'**In the car crash when your parents died,'**

"How dare she?" spat Rose, eyes bright and face flushed in outrage "That's her sister's death she's lying about, to her son no less"

"Since when did that matter to Petunia" growled James, his face a dangerous Weasley red "this is the banshee that pretended not to have a sister after all"

**she had said. 'And don't ask questions.' **

"How are you supposed to learn if you don't ask questions?" asked Rose, aghast.

**Don't ask questions – that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys. **

**Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon. **

'**Comb your hair!' he barked, by way of a morning greeting. **

"Won't work" sang Teddy with a smile to his godbrothers. James grinned back at him, ruffling his hair to make it even messier whilst Al ducked his head and tried to flatten it. Fred smirked at the two brothers; it never failed to amuse him how different and yet sometimes similar the two siblings were.

**About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way – all over the place. **

"Dad calls it the Potter curse" Al said softly, blowing a strand of hair out of his eyes.

Rose giggled "that and bad eyesight"

Scorpius smirked and nudged Al with a teasing glint in his eyes.

"Is falling in love with red heads part of this curse?"

Al scowled and turned his head away from his friend, his face feeling strangely hot as a certain red head flashed through his mind.

**Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large, pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes and thick, blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head.**

Rose snorted "Attractive"

Fred gave her an odd look "If I didn't know that was sarcasm I would be thinking about revoking your Smartypants title"

James grinned at her, throwing a significant look towards Scorpius "yeah Rose. Didn't think blondes were your thing"

Teddy chuckled at the two pairs of matching blushes, and making a mental note to keep Ron away from Scorpius, continued to read.

**Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel **

"In what world does she live in?" yelped Al, staring at the book in disbelief before covering his mouth, throwing a wide eyed look to his brother who was gaping at him.

"That's the rudest I have ever heard you be" James sat back and stared helplessly at Teddy and Fred "where the heck did polite little Albus go to?"

Scorpius snorted "he's only polite around adults. Butters them up with his innocent act so he can do no wrong in their eyes"

At James's incredulous glance Al gave him a devious smile and averted his eyes to the ceiling.

– **Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig. **

The second years and Teddy burst out laughing, shocking Fred and James out of their stupefied states. Looks like being cheeky was an inherited trait as well.

**Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell. **

'**Thirty-six,' he said, looking up at his mother and father. 'That's two less than last year.' **

They all stared at the book, incredulously.

"We don't get that much, and there are thirteen individual kids in our family"

"How much more of a spoiled brat can you be?"

"Who needs that many presents?"

"Pig"

'**Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy.' **

'**All right, thirty-seven then,' said Dudley, going red in the face. **

**Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over. **

James and Fred nodded in approval.

"Good, eat as much as you can before the pig turns the table over"

"At least we know Uncle Harry has his priorities straight"

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger too, because she said quickly, 'And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?' **

"How is that helping?" Rose pointed out, flinging her arms up in frustration at Petunia's bad parenting.

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, 'So I'll have thirty ... thirty ..." **

"Oh my Merlin" groaned Rose, burying her face in her hands "he can't even bloody count"

'**Thirty-nine, sweetums,' said Aunt Petunia. **

'**Oh.' Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. All right then.' **

**Uncle Vernon chuckled. **

'**Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. Atta boy, Dudley!' He ruffled Dudley's hair. **

Rose had fallen over at this point into a heap of despair. From what the others could hear from her mumbling it seemed like she was cursing the Dursley's out for their bad parenting skills and bad people skills in general.

Scorpius threw a scared look at Al who just shrugged helplessly and patted her gingerly on the head.

**At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a cine-camera, a remote-control aeroplane, sixteen new computer games and a video recorder.**

To try and distract himself from the mess his cousin had become on the floor, Albus turned to help Scorpius with his spelling on his list, chuckling slightly at some of his mistakes.

**He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone, looking both angry and worried. **

'**Bad news, Vernon,' she said. 'Mrs Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him.' She jerked her head in Harry's direction. **

"Oh I hope Mrs Figg's going to be alright" fretted Rose, jumping back into a sitting position as if nothing had happened. James and Fred gave her frightened looks, not used to her mood swings while Al just gave a tired smile and welcomed her back to the world of sanity with a well meaning pat on the shoulder.

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger bars or the cinema. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned. **

"That sounds like hell" moaned James "think of all those cats"

"There is nothing wrong with cats James" snapped Rose, narrowing her eyes. Fred, Al, and Teddy groaned in unison to Scorpius's amusement.

"I'm guessing this happens a lot" he muttered to Al out of the corner of his mouth.

"At least once a day for the last ten years" was all the reply he got.

'**Now what?' said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbies, Snowy, Mr Paws and Tufty again. **

"See Rose, Dad agrees with me" James pointed out with a triumphant look.

"But that's incredible rude to that poor lady. I never thought Uncle Harry would be so mean" Rose looked scandalized.

"He's a ten year old boy Rose" Teddy reminded her gently, and seeing how she didn't look mollified in the slightest he quickly read on.

'**We could phone Marge,' Uncle Vernon suggested. **

'**Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy.' **

**The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there – or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug. **

"I hate it when people do that" scowled Fred

"When have you ever been treated like a slug?" asked James incredulously, looking at his friend with wide eyes.

"Well not like that" Fred amended slightly "I just mean, sometimes adults say things they don't expect you to understand because you're 'kids'" he mimed air quotations around the word 'kids'.

Teddy smirked slightly, remembering how resentful that had made him feel in his teenage years.

"Teenagers: expected to act like adults, still treated like children"

'**What about what's-her-name, your friend – Yvonne?' **

'**On holiday in Majorca,' snapped Aunt Petunia. **

'**You could just leave me here,' Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer). **

Albus snorted bitterly "And let you have the chance of happiness? Not likely Dad"

Rose huffed and leant on his side, not liking the dark look in his eyes, wanting to see the sparkle back in them.

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon. **

'**And come back and find the house in ruins?' she snarled. **

'**I won't blow up the house,' said Harry, but they weren't listening. **

"You should" encouraged Fred making coaxing motions with his hands "that would be perfect payback"

"And you wouldn't have to live there anymore" chimed James, looking happier at the thought of blowing up Privet Drive than he had been since the cupboard was mentioned.

'**I suppose we could take him to the zoo,' said Aunt Petunia slowly, '... and leave him in the car ...' **

"He's not a dog" snapped Rose, glaring slightly at the book, knowing that there were a few cases of children dying from overheating when stuck in the car for too long on a sunny day.

'**That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone ...' **

"Oh yes, that's the main concern here" Scorpius drawled sarcastically, eyes narrowed in dislike towards the book, almost wishing he could hex this great buffoon into next century but that would be a tad violent for him.

**Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying, it had been years since he'd really cried, but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted. **

They all stared, incredulous, at the book.

"He's having...a temper tantrum?" asked Al, afraid he might have misheard that paragraph.

Teddy nodded, a look of disgust on his face.

They all seemed to be slumped over in shock, James and Fred shaking their heads like they were trying to get their brains to start working again.

"How old is this kid again? Eleven? We stopped doing things like that at five"

They sat in stupefied silence for a little longer before Teddy shook himself awake and continued to read.

'**Dinky Duddydums,**

And like that the spell of silence was broken with the sound of roaring laughter. James and Fred were banging the fists on the floor, crying from laughing so much while the trio of second years were all slumped over each other, breathless in their hilarity. It took a long time for Teddy to calm down enough to continue reading and even then, he couldn't help but snort when he saw the name written on the page.

**don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!' she cried, flinging her arms around him. **

"He'd make it infinitely better" laughed Fred, slowly getting his breath back.

'**I ... don't ... want ... him ... t-t-to come!' Dudley yelled between huge pretend sobs. 'He always sp-spoils everything!' He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms. **

"Why that nasty little-"

"That right little git, who the heck-"

"How does she fall for that? It's like-"

"Pig"

**Just then, the doorbell rang – 'Oh, Good Lord, they're here!' said Aunt Petunia frantically – and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. **

"Merlin forbid they're allowed to defend themselves" snarled Scorpius, rubbing his arm in a self-conscious manner which didn't escape Albus's notice. Ignoring the others curious looks he leant over to whisper to his friend.

"We showed them though, didn't we? I honestly thought those tentacles were an improvement"

Scorpius snorted as he remembered the first time Al had stood up for him, nodding his thanks to his raven haired friend, glad that he had Al and Rose at his side to back him up now.

**Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once. **

"Well they're not really friends then" Teddy commented in a tone of forced lightness, trying not to let this overgrown pig get to him too much.

"What do you mean?" asked Fred curiously.

Teddy gave them all a warm smile "A true friend will not judge you for crying. Usually because they're crying right there with you or going to beat the living daylights out of the people that made you cry in the first place. You never have to hide your tears in front of your friends"

**Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life.**

All of them who had grown up around Harry had sad smiles on their faces. They all remembered that taking them to the zoo was always one of the favourite things to do as a family. It was always so much fun, not matter how many times they had been. Harry had always been more than happy to take them, mainly because it made them happy but now they were starting to wonder if Harry also enjoyed going because it was the first place he had ever gone, away from the prison that was the Dursley's house.

**His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside. **

"Can't you leave Dad alone you fat lump of lard?" grouched Albus, crossing his arms, and looking like he had had the ending to one of his books spoiled.

Scorpius smirked at his friend "come on Al, you look like you're sulking"

Al did the mature thing and stuck his tongue out at his best friend, both of them ignoring the incredulous looks traded by Fred and James as this was the second time Al had insulted someone; all in the same chapter too!

'**I'm warning you,' he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, 'I'm warning you now, boy – any funny business, anything at all – and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas.' **

The mood darkened at the mention of the cupboard, Rose looking like she was either about to start yelling or crying at the injustice.

Fred cut her off however with a triumphant grin "No he won't, because he'll be at Hogwarts by then"

They all cheered up a lot more at those words, looking even more forward to reading about Hogwarts.

'**I'm not going to do anything,' said Harry, 'honestly ...' **

**But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did. **

"Yeah, it's really annoying that is" sighed James, frustrated at this.

"Well it usually is you doing something Jamie" Teddy pointed out fairly.

James pouted "Doesn't mean it always is"

During the last year he had been getting blamed for a lot of pranks that he knew neither he nor Fred had pulled and it was really frustrating him. That and the fact that even they had no clue as to who was pulling the pranks and blaming them.

**The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen. **

Rose perked up, seemingly eager to get away from the subject of James's pranking career.

"Do you think we'll hear about Uncle Harry's accidental magic now?" she asked, edging forward in her eagerness. Scorpius and Al traded grins before leaning forward as well while Fred and James traded excited looks, wondering if they could find any ideas for future pranks or products.

**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barber's looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his fringe, which she left 'to hide that horrible scar'. **

They all cringed in sympathy, James running his fingers through his hair imagining it shaved off. He shuddered in horror, glad his mother never seemed to care about the state his hair was in.

**Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and Sellotaped glasses. Next morning, however, he had got up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off.**

"Hah" shouted James, leaping up in victory "Potter hair cannot be beaten"

The others laughed, Al shaking his head at his brother's antics, Teddy smiling and changing his hair to look like the Potter's.

**He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly. **

The smiles were quickly wiped off their faces.

"...They punished him for accidental magic?" Al whispered, trembling slightly, hands clenched tightly at his sides. To see Al in such a state was the only thing that was keeping Rose from exploding. Instead she laid a calming hand on his arm, Scorpius following her lead with the other as they both whispered calming words in his ears, trying to calm him down.

James was swearing almost manically under his breath while Fred was scribbling away ideas on a list of pranks they could pull on the Dursleys. Teddy's hair had turned tomato red in anger but he forced himself to continue so he could hopefully get their minds off of this. No matter how much he hated it.

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old jumper of Dudley's (brown with orange bobbles). **

Rose wrinkled her nose in disgust while James and Fred had evil glints in their eyes, writing down an idea on their list of pranks.

**The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a glove puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished. **

They all let out quiet sighs of relief. It was ridiculous that Harry was being punished for accidental magic in the first place but it was still nice to hear he wasn't always punished for things he couldn't control.

**On the other hand, he'd got into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney.**

"He apperated?" cried Scorpius, staring at the book with wide eyes "that's incredible for accidental magic"

"I know" exclaimed Rose, looking fascinated. Accidental magic had always interested her, knowing that in came out through high levels of emotion and the amount of magic caused related to how high the emotion was but that's all she really knew. Maybe her mother would be able to help her?

**The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big bins outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump. **

James and Fred shook their heads in disappointment "That was an awful excuse"

Teddy smirked "Despite how scrawny the Potter's are, they're not light enough to do that by themselves"

James crossed his arms, glaring at Teddy in annoyance "you know Ted, if you don't stop making remarks about my height I'm going to fire you as my godbrother"

Teddy merely chuckled "oh woe is me to not have to be stuck with a shrimpy godbrother"

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong.**

"Famous last words" muttered Rose, sending annoyed glances to the boys beside her. Catching the glances they merely gave her innocent smiles in return. When she didn't stop glaring the smiles slowly slide from their faces, adopting slightly sheepish expressions instead.

"Nothing did go wrong" tried Albus, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly "...much" he added on in a whisper to Scorpius, hoping Rose didn't hear him.

**It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard or Mrs Figg's cabbage-smelling living-room. **

**While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. **

**He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank and Harry were just a few of his favourite subjects.**

"Something tells me he doesn't like Uncle Harry" Fred commented lightly. James snorted.

"What gave it away?"

"Well my dear fellow. He is comparing Harry to the council and the bank. Neither of those are very flattering comparisons for my dear Uncle"

**This morning, it was motorbikes. **

"Hey! Motorbikes are awesome" exclaimed James and Fred together. James's new dream of acquiring a flying motorbike had not been dampened at all from yesterday.

'**... roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums,' he said, as a motorbike overtook them. **

'**I had a dream about a motorbike,' said Harry, remembering suddenly. 'It was flying.' **

Almost at once, the Potter/Weasley children smacked their faces into their hands at their Father's/Uncle's stupidity.

Teddy simply put the book down, buried his face in his hands and groaned. He knew it was unfair to judge as his ten year old godfather but he couldn't help it. Looks like he now knew where Albus got the annoying habit of speaking his mind at the wrong time from. Actually now that he thought about it, all of Harry's children did that, only James did it more often and a lot less tactfully than anyone else, Lily only did it when she was around people she was comfortable with, and Albus did it at the most inopportune times around people he was comfortable with.

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beetroot with a moustache, 'MOTORBIKES DON'T FLY!' **

"YES THEY DO!" yelled back Fred and James. The other laughed at them before falling silent as the heard hurried footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Quick, hide the book" hissed Rose as she scrambled to look like she was rummaging around in some of the boxes, dragging Scorpius with her. James and Fred looked confused but Al and Teddy got what she was doing. Teddy quickly hid the book in a box of old robes while Albus tackled James and Fred, whispering urgently to them as he did "act natural so whoever that is won't be suspicious".

When Ginny Potter opened the trapdoor to the attic she wasn't in the least surprised to see her sons and nephew rolling around in a fistfight on the floor, Scorpius looking like he either wanted to back his friend up or listen to whatever Rose was going on about now, and Teddy looking like he was about to start laughing. She quickly glared at him in warning which quickly stopped the laughter and Teddy hurried to pull them all apart. James was rubbing his middle while Albus was adjusting his glasses, pointedly avoiding their mother's gaze.

"Boys" she started warningly "I thought I told you no fighting while Scorpius is here. He doesn't need you two ruining his holiday with your pointless fighting and petty arguments. I don't want to hear another peep from this attic or I will force you all to come down and I will supervise you like toddlers, am I clear?"

"Yes Mum"

"Yes Aunt Ginny"

"Good" and with that Ginny Potter went back down to her study, shaking her head at her boys' behaviour.

They waited for five minutes after she was gone before Teddy retrieved the book "Okay, no more shouting you two or we're going to have to find another place to read"

"Why don't you just cast a silencing charm on the door?" Rose pointed out fairly.

There was a beat of silence before everyone, as one, turned to stare at Teddy.

"You do know it's incredibly creepy when you all do that right?" asked Teddy before casting the charm and reading before anyone of them started saying how stupid he had been.

**Dudley and Piers sniggered. **

'**I know they don't,' said Harry. 'It was only a dream.' **

**But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon – they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas. **

"Do you think Dad will let us watch cartoons this Christmas?" asked James, an innocent smile that did not go with the devious look in his eyes.

"Not if he wants a peaceful Christmas he won't" snorted Teddy.

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice-creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice lolly.**

"Well at least those are good" pointed out Al, for once being slightly optimistic. He had started craving something lemony, so it was to nobody's surprise that he brought out a bag of sherbet lemons to suck on while listening to Teddy.

"You think anything with lemon in it is good" pointed out Scorpius, remembering when a Gryffindor second year called Josh had dared both Scorpius and Al to eat a slice of lemon. It was one of the most disgusting things he had ever eaten, but Al went on to finish the entire lemon, convincing his friends that he must not have taste buds anymore.

**It wasn't bad either, Harry thought, , licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head and looking remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond. **

"That should beanimal cruelty" exclaimed Fred.

"Yeah" agreed James "that poor gorilla, what did it ever do to you Dad?"

**Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunch-time, wouldn't fall back on their favourite hobby of hitting him. **

There was a lot of teeth gritting at this but before any of the more volatile of the group could explode Teddy read on. They were going to need a break after this chapter; just to let out their frustrations...otherwise something was going to explode soon.

**They ate in the zoo restaurant and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory wasn't big enough, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first. **

"That shouldn't be a treat" muttered Scorpius "He should have had his own ice cream from the start"

Only Al had heard his friend's mutterings but he couldn't help but agree with him. Having leftovers from a spoiled brat should not count as a treat, not in anyone's world.

**Harry felt, afterwards, that he should have known it was all too good to last. **

"Here comes that infamous Potter luck" Teddy groaned. At Scorpius's curious look he elaborated.

"It's a lot like Sod's law; anything that can go wrong will go wrong, but it's also very particular. Potter's tend to have really bad luck when they don't need it, and extremely good luck when they do."

"Yeah" chimed Fred, throwing a teasing grin towards his partner in crime "50/50/90 rule"

When Scorpius turned to him with an inquiring look Al explained.

"50% of the time it will go right, 50% of the time it will go wrong...but 90% of the time it will blow up in our faces"

"That explains so much" Scorpius said, smirking at his best friend who merely pretended to scowl in response, swatting his arm slightly before motioning Teddy to continue.

**After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in here, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone.**

Fred and James started to shiver dramatically, making a scene out of edging away from Scorpius. Albus narrowed his eyes before hissing at them, causing them to let out loud shouts before pretending to cower whilst smirking at Albus.

"See" James stage whispered to Fred "He really should have been in Slytherin"

Albus just ignored them turning to smile reassuringly at his friend. Rose chuckled before leaning over to whisper to Scorpius "Ignore the two idiots over there. They're just teasing. It's best just to go along with it, reacting will only encourage them"

**Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a dustbin –**

Fred whistled "That's a big snake"

"Really" gasped Rose "I thought it was an elephant"

Fred turned an appraising eye to Rose "when did you learn the fine language of sarcasm, my dear little cousin?"

"Being best friends with Albus and Scorpius makes one learn it" she replied daintily before turning back to Teddy with an expectant look on her face.

**but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep. **

**Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils. **

'**Make it move,' he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge. **

'**Do it again,' Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on. **

"Leave it alone" snapped Rose, glaring at the book.

"Umm I'm all for animal rights" ventured Scorpius "but you do know lecturing a book won't actually do anything, right?"

Rose shifted her glare from the book to him.

"I'm letting out my frustrations at the moment Scorpius, so unless you want them aimed at you, shut up"

Scorpius, being the wise boy he is, decided it was best for him to do as she said.

'**This is boring,' Dudley moaned. He shuffled away. **

**Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself – no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up – at least he got to visit the rest of the house. **

"How can he compare himself to a snake?" asked Fred incredulously.

"I don't know I certainly couldn't" replied James, shivering slightly in mock disgust.

"I don't know" started Teddy with a teasing glint in his eyes "Sometimes you and Al act a lot alike, and you're always going on about how Slytherin he is"

Glad that he had shut his godbrother up for at least a few minutes, Teddy ploughed on.

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's. **

**It winked. **

"That's impossible" murmured Rose as Albus sat up straight "Snakes don't have eyelids"

That got them all alert. If Rose said something was impossible most of the time she was right. What was going on?

**Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too. **

James groaned "Don't respond to it Dad"

**The snake jerked its head towards Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly: 'I get that all the time.' **

'**I know,' Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. 'It must be really annoying.' **

**The snake nodded vigorously. **

'**Where do you come from, anyway?' Harry asked.**

**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it. **

_**Boa Constrictor, Brazil. **_

'**Was it nice there?' **

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. 'Oh, I see – so you've never been to Brazil?' **

Teddy put the book down and shook his head despairingly "...he's having a conversation with a snake...and not finding it strange at all..."

James and Fred looked shell shocked. Albus was staring at the book like he'd never seen anything like it before. Rose was sitting, stunned, and staring as her brain finally caught up to what was happening but not before Scorpius did.

"...Mr. Potter... is a Parselmouth?" he whispered, awe and disbelief dripping from his words.

"No" said James sharply, snapping up to look at Scorpius "he can't be. It's genetic so if he was Al and I would be too...and we're not. Plus he's never mentioned it, and he's never done it around us"

"Just because you haven't heard him speaking parseltongue doesn't mean he can't" muttered Teddy, rubbing his forehead to stave off a headache "There are many things your dad has not told you, that's why we're reading these books isn't it. We should just keep reading, we'll only find out more that way."

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. 'DUDLEY! MR DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T **_**BELIEVE**_** WHAT IT'S DOING!' **

**Dudley came waddling towards them as fast as he could. **

Fred gave a weak laugh but nobody joined in, too busy mulling over this latest mystery.

'**Out of the way, you,' he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened – one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror. **

"What's happened?" asked Rose, leaning in closer to the book, a look that was both frightened and curious on her face.

The others also tensed up, not sure what to expect but praying it wasn't anything too bad.

**Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. **

"Wicked" breathed Fred and James, awed looks on their faces.

"That tops any of my accidental magic" said Scorpius, a small relieved smile on his face. Al nodded in agreement, glad that it wasn't anything too bad.

**The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out on to the floor – people throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits. **

**As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, 'Brazil, here I come ... Thanksss, amigo.' **

"At least it's polite" nodded Rose in approval.

"You're talking about a snake" Fred pointed out.

"I know that Fred. I'm just saying that it's nice to know that some creatures have manners because you and James certainly don't"

**The keeper of the reptile house was in shock. **

'**But the glass,' he kept saying, 'where did the glass go?' **

"Into non-being which is to say everything" muttered Teddy before dodging the shoe James had thrown at him.

"Will you stop saying that?" he grouched. It was Teddy's favourite phrase to use when he had hidden something from the Potter children and needless to say none of them were particularly fond of that phrase.

**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong sweet tea while he apologised over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death.**

"Who were they trying to impress?" asked Scorpius incredulously "they weren't exactly going to be showing off to Harry, were they?"

"Who knows how these boys think?" sighed Rose.

"Who says they think at all?" muttered Al

**But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, 'Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?' **

They all groaned loudly.

"Shut up you little rat-faced git" said James through gritted teeth.

"Who asked you to snitch?" grumbled Fred, crossing his arms over his chest and scowling at the latest bit of bad luck for his Uncle.

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, 'Go – cupboard – stay – no meals,' before he collapsed into a chair and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy. **

"Oh yes" snapped Rose acidly "Alcohol is certainly the best answer to your problems I'm sure"

"They starved him?" growled Teddy, glaring down at the book in his hands.

James was no stranger to punishments but he had never been forced to go to bed without any supper, like he knew Fred had. This must have been why that particular punishment had never been used in his house. Injustice welled inside him like water behind a dam and he knew he was going to burst soon if the Dursley's did anything else in this chapter.

**Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food. **

That seemed to knock a lot of them out of their anger. All of them had, at one point, sneaked down to the Hogwarts kitchens for food but nobody should have to sneak about in their own home. It just made them all so sad that this had happened to their father/uncle/godfather in his home when it was a tradition for them at Hogwarts.

**He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead.**

Rose's hands flew to her mouth in horror while James and Albus looked like they were about to be sick.

"He remembers it?" she whispered, tears filling her eyes.

"Looks like it" said Scorpius hoarsely, squeezing Albus's shoulder in comfort before doing the same to Rose. It was really awful that a ten year old could remember that much of a murder attempt on his life and not even know what it all meant.

**This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house. **

"He didn't even know what they looked like" said Teddy, looking down at his hands. He knew how precious the photos he had of his parents were to him. To not even know anything about your parents would be horrible. He knew that when he was a child he would always ask questions about his parents, writing down all the stories he had been told so he could never forget them. To not have those... it would be like tearing the hole in his heart where his parents should be even bigger.

**When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened; the Dursleys were his only family.**

"Well they're not anymore" chirped Fred, trying to lighten up to depressed atmosphere.

"Uncle Harry has us now, and we're never going to let him forget that"

James gave his cousin a half-hearted smirk "What do you suggest we do to make sure of this, oh wise one?"

Fred smiled, glad that James was being pulled out of the depressed mood along with a few others too.

"Well, I'm sure a few fireworks down at the Auror department wouldn't go a miss"

"No" Teddy put in firmly before they could expand on that idea before he added "At least not while I'm there, you got that?"

Ignoring Rose's shocked look he continued to read, glad they were getting close to the end of the chapter.

**Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look. **

"Wizards" James nodded knowingly.

"Really?" gasped Rose sarcastically "What on earth gave it away?"

While James pretended to sniff haughtily, and Fred tutted disappointedly Rose bit her lip, becoming serious again.

"It's a wonder nobody catches on with the way they're treating Uncle Harry. What if they were caught?"

**At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.**

"Well we're going to disagree with Dudley's gang because Dad is awesome" stated James with a smile before getting up and stretching. Sitting down for so long wasn't something he enjoyed doing too much.

"I'm going to get a drink" remarked Fred, standing up as well. "Anyone else want anything?"

As the others told Fred what they wanted Teddy got up to help him. Before the both left Rose spoke up.

"We should be able to get two more chapters in before dinner if we don't take too long with this break. Is that alright with everyone?"

They all nodded before Teddy and James left to go get drinks and snacks while the others mulled over what they had heard and let out some frustrations in the form of an epic pillow fight. 

**A/N: There we go chapter 2 done! Should I bring in Lily and Hugo? Let me know in reviews~**


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